U.S. Department
of Justice
Philadelphia Political Consultant Pleads Guilty In Attempt To Conceal Campaign Finance-Related Fraud
PHILADELPHIA – Political consultant Gregory Naylor, 66, of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty today to making false statements to federal agents and misprision of a felony in connection with his role in attempting to conceal two campaign finance-related fraud schemes. According to court documents, the charges stem from Naylor’s participation in two campaign finance-related schemes initiated by a long-time friend and employer, identified in the information as Elected Official A. In the first scheme, Naylor helped conceal the theft of federal grant funds and private charitable funds that were used to repay an illegal campaign debt incurred by Elected Official A during a 2007 campaign for elected office.
Specifically, Naylor was aware that large amounts of money from an unexplained source were being spent on Elected Official A’s campaign, and Naylor helped to conceal the source of those funds by preparing a false invoice for services rendered by his consulting firm. Naylor subsequently learned that Elected Official A and others orchestrated the theft of federal grant funds to repay the outstanding balance of the campaign debt, and he agreed to the falsification of campaign finance reports to further conceal Elected Official A’s activities.
The charges were announced by United States Attorney Zane David Memeger of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, FBI Special Agent in Charge Edward Hanko and IRS Criminal Investigations Special Agent-in-Charge Akeia Conner. The plea was entered by U.S. District Court Judge Harvey Bartle III of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Also according to court documents, in the second scheme, Naylor conspired with Elected Official A to pay down portions of the college debt of Elected Official A’s son using federal and local campaign funds. Some of the payments originated directly from the local campaign fund, and some were illegally sourced from Elected Official A’s federal campaign election committee and passed through the local campaign fund account to Naylor. Naylor made approximately $22,000 in improper payments between August 2007 and April 2011 at Elected Official A’s request. Naylor also falsely claimed on IRS forms that the payments made towards the college debt were earned income to Elected Official A’s son for services rendered as an independent contractor to Naylor’s consulting firm. When confronted by federal agents in investigative interviews about the payments, Naylor lied on two occasions and repeated his cover story that the son of Elected Official A was an independent contractor working for his political consulting firm.
U.S. District Court Judge Harvey Bartle III scheduled a sentencing hearing for December 2, 2014. Naylor faces a maximum possible statutory sentence of 13 years in prison, a fine of up to $500,000, and up to three years of supervised release.
Click here to view the indictment
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, EASTERN DISTRICTof PENNSYLVANIA
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